World News - Debate Grows Over Beefing Up U.S. Force in Iraq Military Leaders Oppose McCain's Push for Thousands of Additional Troops

The debate about how to proceed in Iraq, which in the past few months has focused on withdrawing U.S. troops, now includes serious discussion about adding more forces to the fight. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) repeatedly suggested this week that the United States needs thousands more troops in Iraq, and members of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group have discussed similar ideas as they prepare a much-anticipated policy recommendation. Members of Congress raised the concept on Wed in hearings with the region's top U.S. military commander. In a speech last night to Republicans, McCain, who is considering a presidential bid in 2008, reiterated his desire for more troops to solve a "dire" situation. "Without additional combat forces, we will not win this war," McCain said, describing inadequate U.S. troop numbers to clear insurgent strongholds, stem sectarian violence and train Iraqi security forces. "We need to do all these things if we are to succeed. And we will need more troops to do them."... http://www.washingtonpost.com

On the morning of April 30 1975 a young corporal in the army of North Vietnam drove a tank through the streets of an unfamiliar city wreathed in smoke & resounding with gunfire, & stopped at a set of wrought-iron gates. Corpses lay on the pavement, & in the distance a lone helicopter rose above the US embassy & turned towards the river. The soldier, Nguyen Van Tap, paused: could the gate be electrified? Then he gunned the engine and crashed into Saigon's Independence Palace. Moments later, Mr Nguyen's lieutenant, Vu Dang Toan, took the surrender of the South Vietnamese regime barricaded inside. The Vietnam war was over, and the 2 villagers from north of Hanoi had witnessed what would have once been unthinkable: the humbling of a superpower by a peasant army. In the paint factory on the outskirts of Hanoi where the 2 men work now, Mr Vu says the significance of the victory was apparent even then. "When a small country like Vietnam is invaded by a big country like America and wins, then ...http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1950152,00.html

The outgoing Republican chairman of a key U.S. Senate committee has made a last-minute attempt at giving the Bush administration what he calls the necessary "resources" for carrying out its phone call and Internet surveillance within the law, but critics remain unconvinced. In remarks on the Senate floor on Tuesday afternoon, Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter marketed his new 11-page proposal as "a significant advance in protecting civil liberties." Once one of the few Republicans to question openly the legality of the National Security Agency's warrantless terrorist surveillance program, the veteran Pennsylvanian politician drew criticism this summer for endorsing a bill that would allow--but not require--the Bush administration to submit the operations for court review. The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman's latest effort drew near-immediate skepticism from the American Civil Liberties Union and from California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, ...http://news.com.com/Republicans+propose+last-minute+spy+bill/2100-1028_3-6136026.html

Another mass kidnapping in Iraq: passengers from up to six minibuses have been abducted at a fake checkpoint in Baghdad. It follows Tuesday's abduction of up to 150 people from a Ministry of Education building by armed men wearing police uniforms.Iraq's education minister claims the state may be complicit in the terror -...http://www.channel4.com/news/special-reports/special-reports-storypage.jsp?id=3924

Legislation recognizing gay civil unions in the Mexican capital was published in the official gazette on Thursday, making it the first such law in the history of the conservative, predominantly Roman Catholic country. The law does not legalize gay marriage but allows same-sex couples living in Mexico City to register civil unions with authorities, granting them inheritance rights and other benefits typically given to spouses. City legislature passed the law last week and it was signed on Monday by Mexico City Mayor Alejandro Encinas. However it will not take effect for 120 days. At least one conservative non-governmental group said it was considering seeking a court injunction against the measure. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2660182

A man facing robbery charges will receive a new trial after a juror was overheard to say the defendant should be convicted quickly so jurors could go home. The statement was allegedly made when the 12 jurors were taking a lunch break in Glenn A. Stewart's trial in Hancock County Circuit Court. Circuit Judge Martin J. Gaughan declared a mistrial Tuesday after questioning two jurors. One denied making the remark and the other couldn't verify that the remark was made. "Someone came in off the street, someone known to the court system, and said he heard one of the jurors say, 'We have to find this guy guilty in a hurry so that we can get home,'" Gaughan told the Weirton Daily Times. "The obligation is to give the guy a fair trial is so strong that this is the best way to handle it." The 21-year-old Newell man is being held in the Northern Regional Jail pending his new trial. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2660192